INDIA - NOVEMBER 06: RK Laxman, Cartoonist with a sketch of his most famous character 'Common Man' at his Residence in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India (Photo by Mustafa Quraishi/The India Today Group/Getty Images)

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India’s most famous satirist and the creator of the iconic ‘Common Man’ series of cartoons, Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Laxman, but known simply as Laxman by those who followed his art over six decades, passed away on Monday in a Pune hospital, according to reports.

Laxman, who was born in Mysore in 1924, died this evening at the Dinanath Mangeshker hospital in Pune after complications from a urinary tract infection, the Deccan Chronicle reported. The eminent cartoonist was ill for many months and was admitted to the hospital on January 16 after he complained of breathlessness, the report said.

IANS reported Laxman passed away, citing a family member. Laxman had suffered multiple organs failure, but responded well to the treatment and had bounced back. Three days later, he was taken off the ventilator and shifted to the intensive care unit, the IANS report said.

Laxman began drawing cartoons for the Free Press Journal newspaper in 1947 in Mumbai (then Bombay). He joined the Times of India as a cartoonist later and in a career spanning 60 years, he fearlessly caricatured India's politicians, including Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.

The legendary cartoonist, brother of renowned novelist RK Narayan, is survived by his writer wife Kamala, retired journalist son Srinivas and daughter-in-law Usha.